“CHALLENGE TO BEAR MUCH FRUIT”

CHALLENGE TO BEAR MUCH FRUIT

John 15:1-17

August 5, 2007 Pastor Harpold

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener (or husbandman) [John 15:1]. The word for true means "genuine,” meaning the real thing rather than counterfeit.

Israel is depicted as a vine planted by God. Israel was unfaithful and unfruitful, now Jesus presented Himself as the true vine, the fulfillment of all the types and shadows.

The branches must be joined to the Vine. Why? For fruit-bearing. There are three very important words or phrases.

"In me” (in Christ) is what it means to be saved. “In Christ” covers the entire spectrum of salvation. There are only two groups of people: those who are in Christ and those who are not in Christ. Jesus is clear: it is not your identification with a religion or ceremony or organization - We are to be identified with Christ!

But Jesus is not talking about how a person gets saved. He is talking about fruit-bearing, the next word of note. Fruit is mentioned six times. There are three degrees of fruit-bearing: fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. It’s all about fruit-bearing. Consider the parable of the sower - some seed brought forth thirtyfold - that is fruit. Some brought forth sixty - that is more fruit. Some brought forth an hundredfold - that is much fruit. God wants us to bear much fruit.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit…. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned (vs. 2 & 6). Does this say a person loses salvation? No, this is not about salvation but about fruit-bearing. It is the result of salvation.

Opinions vary concerning the branch that bears no fruit. Some think it is a false professor pretending to be a Christian who has never really been united to Christ by faith. Judas is an illustration. Others think it is a backsliding Christian. He strays and is ensnared by the things of the world. He fails to manifest the fruit of the Spirit. By lack of prayer and carelessness a believer gets out of touch with the Lord. As a result, he falls into sin, and his testimony is ruined through his failure to abide in Christ. Such are gathered and thrown into the fire, not by God, but by people. People scoff at the backslidden Christian. They drag his name in the mud. They throw his testimony into the fire. David is an illustration. He became careless and committed adultery and murder. He caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.

How is the unfruitful branch removed? One way is by removing the person from the place of fruit-bearing. Many have been set aside and are no longer effective for God. Removing such a branch does not mean they lose their salvation, but they are taken away from the place of fruit-bearing, sometimes by physical death. This may be what John refers to in 1 John 5:16 speaking of a sin unto death. A Christian may sin until God removes him by death. Ananias and Sapphira were removed by death from the early church, a holy church, a fruit-bearing church.

What is the fruit spoken of? It is not soul-winning. Soul-winning is a by-product. The fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… (Gal. 5:22-23). This is fruit in the life of the believer. If a person has such fruit, he will be bringing men into the presence of God by his very life. That, of course, makes soul-winning a by-product.

The branch that bears fruit is the Christian who is growing more like Jesus.

Every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. The word “prune” means "to cleanse.” Fruitful vines must be pruned or cleansed. As a vine must be cleaned, a Christian must be cleansed from worldly things.

No doubt the Lord does some pruning. He moves in and removes anything that offends, and sometimes it hurts. He prunes out that which hinders our bearing fruit.

The cleansing agent is the word of the Lord. The disciples had originally been cleansed by the word at their conversion. "You are clean through the word.” The cleansing power of the Word is wonderful. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit… having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and abides forever (1 Pet. 1:22-23). We were born again, washed from sin, by the Word. In our walk we get dirty and need the Word of God to cleanse us continually. We study the Bible - to be cleansed.

God uses the Word of God to reveal when we are not walking in His will. The real test whether a person is genuine in his relationship to God is whether he is studying the Word and letting it have its way in his life! We will never be clean before God if we don't study the Word of God.

Abide in me… the third word to note is abide. To abide in Christ means constant communion with Him all the time. When you wake in the morning, at your desk at work, while driving your car, you are abiding in constant communion with Jesus.

We have looked at the cleansing power of the Word. We must be cleansed daily. One day Charles Spurgeon stopped in the middle of the street, removed his hat, and prayed. One of his deacons saw this and asked him about it. Mr. Spurgeon said that a cloud had come between him and his Lord and he wanted to remove it immediately; he had stopped to confess his sinful thought. We need to confess our sins to the Lord to abide in Him, to stay in constant communion with Him.

To abide means to stay where you are. We must daily stay in intimate fellowship with the Lord. A branch abides in a vine drawing all its life and nourishment from the vine. We abide in Christ by spending time in prayer, reading and obeying His Word, fellowshipping with His people, and being continually conscious of our union with Him.

The only way believers can bear the fruit of a Christ-like character is by living in touch with Christ moment by moment.

It is not a matter of the branch living its life for the Vine, rather letting the life of the Vine flow through the branches. We may pray, "Lord, help me to live my life for you.” It would be better to pray, "Lord Jesus, live out your life through me.” Without Christ, we can do nothing. A vine branch has one great purpose — to bear fruit.

As the children of God exhibit the likeness of Christ to the world, the Father is glorified. People are forced to confess that He must be a great God when He can transform such wicked sinners into such godly saints.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples [John 15:7-8]. This is a marvelous prayer promise, but notice the condition. "If you abide in me and my words abide in you” means to be obedient. Then we will have effectual prayer.

Verse 10 tells us to abide in His love, by keeping His commandments. "Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” The second half of the verse gives a Perfect Example. Jesus kept His Father's commandments. He did everything in obedience to the will of God. He remained in the constant enjoyment of the Father's love. Nothing could mar the sweet sense of loving fellowship.

Jesus found His own deep joy in communion with God His Father. He wanted His disciples to have that joy that comes from dependence upon Him. He wanted His joy to be theirs. Man's idea of joy is to be as happy as he can by leaving God out of his life. The Lord taught that real joy comes by taking God into one's life as much as possible.

This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you [John 15:12]. Remember He is talking to believers. We are to love each other as He has loved us! It is sad to see Christians tear down each other and gossip about one another. One can have good Bible teaching and still reject this commandment. To love as He has loved us is putting it on a very high plane. Only the Spirit of God can produce such love in our lives.

The Christian life is not a hit-and-miss proposition. The Christian life is following His instructions. If you follow these instructions, you will bear fruit. He laid down His life for us; He asks us to obey Him. He is our friend because He died for us. We are His friends when we keep His commandments.

The Lord would soon leave His disciples. They would be left in a hostile world. As tensions increased, there would be the danger of the disciples' contending with one another. So Jesus leaves this standing order, "Love one another, as I have loved you."

Their love should be such that they would be willing to die for one another. People who are willing to do this do not fight with each other. The greatest example of human self-sacrifice was for a man to die for his friends. Disciples of Christ are called to this devotion. The Lord Jesus is the Example. He laid down His life for His friends.

The first four months after the introduction of the new color-filled $20 bills began circulating, more than $1 million in fake new 20's was accepted by businesses and subsequently detected?

Many in this land refer to themselves as Christians. Unfortunately, some are counterfeit. As we leave today let us be mindful that to claim the name "Christian" means to be Christ-like.

BENEDICTION – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.